^yoman  under  the 

gtl^nic  ^ligions. 


MRS  MOSES  SMITH 


CHICAGO,  ILL. 

Woman’s  Board  ok  Missions  of  the  Interior. 

1898. 


\yoman  under  tl^e 


BY 

MRS.  MOSES  SMITH. 


CHICAGO,  ILL. 

Woman’s  Board  of  Missions  of  the  Interior. 

1898. 


https://archive.org/details/womanunderethnicOOsmit 


VVoniaq  Uiider  the  Ethqic  Religioqs. 


BY  MRS.  MOSES  SMITH. 


(A  paper  read  before  the  World’s  Congress  of  Missions,  in  Art  Institute, 
Chicago,  October  4,  1893. 

fOR  two  weeks  we  have  been  listening  to  the  presentation 
of  religions.  We  have  heard  philosophies  of  religion 
profound  and  subtile,  to  some  minds  fascinating  in  their 
grace  and  mysticism.  It  may  be  wholesome,  if  not  so 
agreeable  to  have  our  attention  now  called  to  the  practical 
workings  of  some  of  these  religions  and  their  effect  on 
the  life  and  destiny  of  man.  Moreover,  as  missionary 
workers,  it  is  wise  for  us  to  know  not  only  the  present 
needs  of  the  people,  but  the  religious  forces  which  long 
centuries  have  wrought  into  every  tissue  of  their  thought, 
feeling  and  action. 

Without  question  religion  is  the  supreme  force  in  history. 
Religion  creates  the  ideals  and  aspirations,  and  so  chisels 
the  character  of  mankind.  In  the  order  of  nature  the  wor- 
shiper becomes  like  the  being  worshiped.  ‘‘As  a man 
thinketh  in  his  heart,  so  is  he.” 


4 


The  world  has  known  many  religions,  some  of  them  em- 
inent for  the  tremendous  power  with  which  they  have  held 
millions  in  their  sway  over  centuries  of  time;  eminent  also 
for  profound  philosophy,  lofty  ideals,  and  sometimes  a high 
morality.  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  gave  us  the  test  for  Him- 
self and  His  teaching;  “By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know 
them.”  The  conditions  of  society,  temporal  and  spiritual, 
are  the  fruits  by  which  any  religious  system  may  be  known. 

In  the  nature  of  things  the  factor  that  most  universally 
moulds  society  is  woman.  The  boy  is  father  of  the  man, 
but  the  woman  is  mother  of  the  boy,  hence  the  study  of 
the  teaching  of  any  religion  concerning  woman,  and  of  her 
character  and  place  in  society  as  the  result  of  that  religion, 
is  vital  both  to  the  correct  understanding  of  the  system 
and  of  what  it  has  wrought  for  the  world. 

The  most  venerable  and  possibly  the  most  powerful 
Ethnic  religion  is  Brahmanism.  Kising  in  India  when 
that  was  the  land  of  literature  and  art,  the  home  of  the 
cultured  Aryans,  for  fifteen  centuries  this  religion  wrought 
unhindered  on  the  people.  At  first  a simple  nature  wor- 
ship, it  degenerated  into  a pantheon  in  which  all  the 
powers  of  nature  Avere  gods.  On  this  Avas  built  a sacer- 
dotalism with  caste  and  idol  Avorship.  It  became  an  op- 
pressive tyranny.  At  this  juncture,  500  years  before 


Christ,  a new  and  forcible  factor  entered  the  life  of  the 
people  in  the  birth  of  a king’s  son,  Gautama  Buddha, 
known  in  history  as  the  great  Reformer  of  Brahmanism. 
I have  not  time  to  speak  of  the  fierce  theological  war  that 
ensued  (400  years),  or  of  the  bright  coup  d’etat  of  the  Brah- 
mans in  finally  accepting  Buddha  as  the  ninth  incarnation 
of  Vishnu. 

Each  of  these  s3'stems  evinces  profound  thought  and  lofty 
ideals.  Buddhism  a high  morality.  Each  contains  ele- 
ments of  truth,  and  each  has  been  a tremendous  power  in 
the  history  of  the  race.  Striving  for  supremacy  on  the  same 
field,  the  result  was  a coalition.  Together  they  enter  the 
stream  of  history  under  the  name  of  Hinduism.  The 
time  has  been  long  enough,  the  field  favorable  and  broad 
enough  for  the  completest  results,  and  the  present  condi- 
tion of  society  in  India  affords  an  opportunity  to  see  the 
results. 

Sir  Monier  Williams,  the  distinguished  Sanscrit  scholar 
of  Oxford,  says:  “Although  India  in  the  early  periods  of 

Brahmanism  was  a land  of  literature  and  science,  the  pres- 
ent characteristics  are  poverty,  ignorance  and  superstition. 
Whatever  profound  thoughts  lay  about  the  roots  of  Hindu- 
ism, it  held  and  still  holds  the  280,000,000  of  India  in  the 
bondage  of  degradation,  cruelty  and  immorality.”  “The 


6 


average  income  per  individual  is  less  than  that  of  any  other 
civilized  country,  barely  $13.50  per  year,  against  $20  even 
for  the  Turks,  $165  for  every  Englishman,  and  $200  for 
every  man,  woman  and  child  in  the  IJnited  States.”*  Dr. 
John  Short,  Surgeon  General  of  India,  long  resident 
among  the  people  says:  “Wherever  the  Hindu  religion 

predominates,  there  immorality  and  debauchery  run  riot.” 
The  Code  of  Manu  is  the  highest  religions 
authority  among  the  Hindus.  You  ask  a 
Hindu  about  the  date  and  age  of  his  great  law-giver  and 
he  quickly  replies,  “He  was  son  of  the  self-existent 
Brahm.”  Mann’s  whole  teaching  about  woman  is  based 
on  the  assumption  of  her  impurity.  For  instance,  a Brah- 
man is  enjoined  “to  suspend  reading  the  Veda  if  a woman 
comes  in  sight.”  Her  ear  is  not  pure  enough  to  hear  what 
the  vilest  man  may  read.  “Though  unobservant  of  ap- 
proved usage,  or  enamoured  of  another  woman,  or  devoid 
of  good  qualities,  yet  a husband  must  constantly  be  revered 
as  a god  by  a virtuous  wife.”f 

“Let  the  wife  who  wishes  to  perform  sacred  oblation 
wash  the  feet  of  her  husband  and  drink  the  water,  for  the 
husband  is  to  the  wife  greater  than  Vishnu.”  Again, 
“Women  have  no  business  with  the  text  of  a sacred  book, 

♦Rev.  N.  G.  Clark,  D.  D,  tDbanna  Sastra,  chap.  5,  page  154. 


7 


and  having  no  evidence  of  law,  and  no  knowledge  of  ex- 
piatory texts,  sinful  women  must  be  foul  as  falsehood  it- 
self, and  this  is  a fixed  rule/^*  And  it  has  remained  fixed 
for  forty-three  centuries. 

Seclusion  modem  Brahmans  like  to  claim  that 

the  present  custom  of  immuring  their  wives 
in  prison-like  rooms  had  its  origin  in  Mohammedan  in- 
vasion. This  is  certainly  not  the  whole  truth,  for  in  the 
unalterable  law  of  Manu,  written  900  years  before  Christ, 
we  read,  “A.  woman  is  not  allowed  to  go  out  of  the  house 
without  the  consent  of  her  husband,  she  may  not  laugh 
without  a veil  over  her  face  or  look  out  of  a door  or  a win- 
dow.” “It  may  be  that  when  the  Mohammedans  came, 
some  fifteen  centuries  after  these  laws  had  been  in  force, 
they  put  the  crown  on  the  arch  already  waiting  for  them. 
They  may  have  tightened  the  chains  by  which  woman  was 
already  enslaved,"f  but  the  teachings  of  Manu  are  suffi- 
cient to  account  for  all  we  see  in  India  to-day. 

The  people  of  the  Western  World 
Child  Marriage.  long  wondered  why  the  Hindus 

were  so  tenacious  of  their,  to  us,  revolting  customs  of 
child  marriage.  It  is  only  when  we  learn  that  it  is  not 

*Dharma  Sastra,  chap.  5,  page  155,  156. 
tWilhins’  Modern  Hinduism,  page  326. 


8 


simply  a custom  but  a part  of  their  religion  that  we  ap- 
prehend the  reason.  The  sacred  laws  of  the  Hindu  de- 
clare: “If  a daughter  is  married  at  the  age  of  six,  the 

father  is  certain  to  ascend  to  the  highest  heaven.  If  the 
daughter  is  not  married  before  seven,  the  father  will  only 
reach  the  second  heaven.  If  a daughter  is  not  married 
until  the  age  of  ten,  the  father  can  only  attain  the  lowest 
place  assigned  the  blest.  If  a girl  is  not  married  until  she 
is  eleven  years  of  age,  all  her  progenitors  for  six  genera- 
tions will  suffer  pain  and  penalties.”*  When  recently  an 
effort  was  made  to  induce  the  Government  to  raise  the 
legal  age  of  marriage  to  twelve  years,  great  excitement 
prevailed.  The  Brahmans  set  apart  days  of  fasting  and 
prayer.  Multitudes  came  in  processions  to  the  temples, 
in  some  cases  beating  their  breasts  and  calling  aloud  to  the 
gods  to  spare  them  from  such  calamity. 

The  worst  feature  of  the  system  of  child  marriage  is  seen 
among  the  Kulin  Brahmans,  the  highest  of  all.  Girls  in 
these  families  must  not  marry  into  a lower  caste,  and  the 
supply  of  Kulins  is  limited,  so  fathers  who  have  not  money 
to  induce  some  young  men  to  marry  their  daughters,  are 
compelled  to  give  their  little  girls  to  those  who  make  a 
living  by  being  husbands.  Thus  a child  of  twelve  may  be 

♦Women  of  the  Orient,  page  135. 


9 


given  as  the  fortieth  or  fiftieth  wife  of  some  old  man.  Al- 
though it  is  certain  she  will  soon  be  a widow,  even  that  is 
preferable  to  allowing  her  to  remain  unmarried. 

Infanticide  “The  code  of  Manu  forbids  a woman  to 
read  the  scripture  or  ofler  prayer  by  her- 
self. She  is  to  have  no  individuality.  She  exists  only  in 
her  father  or  her  husband;  without  a husband  she  is  soul- 
less.” This  doctrine  bears  its  legitimate  fruit  in  the  cus- 
tom of  murdering  infant  girls.  It  is  easy  reasoning,  that 
it  is  better  to  murder  a soulless  child  than  not  to  be  able  to 
betroth  her  and  so  bring  disgrace  on  the  whole  family. 

“The  Hindu  sacred  books  reach  their 

Widows* 

climax  of  cruelty  in  the  requirements  con- 
cerning the  widow.  She  may  have  only  been  a betrothed 
infant  or  a child  of  a few  years.  It  makes  no  difference.” 
The  Shasters  teach  that  if  the  widow  burns  herself  alive  on 
the  funeral  pile  of  her  husband,  even  though  he  had  killed 
a Brahman,  that  most  heinous  of  deeds,  she  expiates  the 
crime.  For  long  centuries  widows  have  been  a literal  burnt 
offering  for  the  redemption  of  husbands.  The  English 
Government  has  prohibited  the  suttee,  but  being  consid- 
ered by  the  family  as  one  rejected  of  the  gods,  the  widow’s 
life  is  such  a degradation,  such  a sorrow,  it  would  seem 
merciful  to  let  her  die.  Manu  wrote,  “Let  not  a widow 


10 


eyer  pronounce  the  name  of  another  man,  for  by  remar- 
riage she  brings  disgrace  on  herself  here  below,  and  shall  be 
excluded  from  the  seat  of  her  Lord.”  To-day  in  India  un- 
der the  Hindu  religion  the  widow  may  not  take  food  more 
than  once  in  the  day.  She  must  go  without  food  and 
water  for  forty-eight  hours  twice  in  the  month.  At  a 
meeting  of  the  highest  religious  court  a few  years  ago  it 
was  gravely  decreed  that,  if  acting  on  medical  advice,  a 
widow  did  sometimes  take  a little  water  on  fast  day,  the 
offense  might  be  condoned.  0,  the  burning  pathos  of  the 
Hindu  widow’s  prayer:  “0  God,  let  no  more  women  be 
born  in  this  land.”  India  has  now  21,000,000  of  widows, 
nearly  100,000  of  them  under  nine  years. 

Hinduism  touches  its  lowest  depths  in 

The  Nautch  Girl.  ,,  , , , . , , ,, 

the  degradation  of  woman  in  what  the  en- 
lightened Hindu,  Mr.  Mozoomdar,  called  in  the  Parlia- 
ment of  Religions  '‘consecrated  prostitution”  of  the  Nautch 
or  dancing  girls  in  the  temples.  The  subject  is  too  deli- 
cate and  too  horrible  for  me  to  speak  of  in  detail,  but  as  it 
is  a much  honored  part  of  this  religion  it  cannot  be  omit- 
ted. The  Brahmans  claim  that  it  is  a most  sacred  service, 
having  its  origin  in  prehistoric  ages  in  a promise  made  by 
Vishnu  himself.  In  a few  words  the  reason  and  method 
is  this:  Parents  who  have  a son  very  ill  will  vow  to  some 


11 


god  that  if  the  son’s  life  is  spared  they  will  consecrate  a 
little  girl  to  the  temple;  or  the  parents  believing  that  honor 
or  wealth  will  be  the  result,  consecrate  a girl  to  the  god;  or 
the  Brahmans  select  the  most  beautiful  little  girls,  the 
parents  rejoicing  in  the  religious  honor. 

From  the  hour  of  consecration  the  little  thing  is  treated 
with  peculiar  respect.  She  alone  of  the  girls  of  the  family 
is  taught  to  read.  When  she  becomes  ten  or  twelve  years 
old,  her  father,  mother  and  nearest  relatives  take  her  to 
the  great  temple.  They  go  with  the  priest  into  the  inner 
shrine.  The  girl  places  her  hand  into  the  god’s  hand,  the 
priest  repeats  certain  prayers  and  charms.  He  then  hangs 
a string  of  cowrie  shells  around  the  girl’s  neck  and  the  poor 
little  thing  repeats  after  him  her  marriage  vow,  which  vow 
is  to  prostitute  herself  to  any  pilgrim  to  the  shrine  who 
demands  it.*  The  position  of  these  religious  prostitutes 
in  Hindu  society  is  so  highly  respectable  that  no  festival 
or  wedding  is  celebrated  without  their  presence.  They 
are  asked  to  tie  the  wifely  ornaments  on  the  neck  of  the 
bride.  They  being  married  to  a god  can  never  be  widowed 
and  their  touch  is  lucky.  In  elegant  attire  with  costly 
jewels  and  perfumes,  charmingly  graceful,  they  lead  their 
wretched  lives,  bring  great  sums  into  the  treasury  of  the 

*Prof.  T,  M.  Lindsay,  University  of  Glasgow. 


12 


temple,  and,  as  they  are  religiously  taught,  accumulate  a 
store  of  blessing  for  themselves  in  a future  state.  John 
Short,  M.  D.,  Surgeon  General  of  India,  Member  of 
Anthropological  Society,  London,  says  : “The  Nautch 

girl  is  recognized  and  patronized  by  the  Hindu  religion.” 
There  was  a time  in  this  fair  eastern  land  when  women 
were  in  a position  of  respect  similar  to  that  among  the  an- 
cient Hebrews.  Husband  and  wife  were  equal  in  all  do- 
mestic, social  and  religious  life.  “The  Brahmans  have 
themselves  preserved  the  record  of  women  engaging  in 
philosophical  discussions,  and  disconcerting  their  most 
celebrated  doctors  by  the  depths  of  their  objections.”* 
Some  of  the  Vedic  hymns  were  composed  by  women.  By 
degrees  the  condition  of  woman  has  deteriorated  until  by 
the  law  of  their  religion  she  is  “now  consigned  to  a degrada- 
tion probably  without  a parallel  in  the  history  of  the  race.” 
It  is  true,  Buddha,  in  the  sixth  century  before  Christ, 
taught  that  men  and  women  were  equal,  but  even  his  in- 
fluence has  never  been  strong  enough  to  reform  the  Brah- 
manical  laws  about  women.  The  Hindus  have  a saying: 
“Education  is  good,  as  milk  is  good,  but  milk  given  to  a 
snake  becomes  venom,  and  education  given  to  a woman 
becomes  poison.” 

*J.  Murray  Mitchell,  LL.  D. 


l: 


A quotation  from  the  personal  experience  of  Prof.  T. 
M.  Lindsay,  D.  D.,  so  pertinently  sums  up  the  Hindu 
creed  about  women  that  I quote  it.  “I  remember  asking 
a learned  Vedantist,  who  had  spent  two  days  in  teaching 
me  something  about  his  belief — a man  who  had  read 
Spinoza,  Berkeley  and  Hegel — whether  he  could  give  me 
any  definite  proposition  which  all  the  people  who  were 
Hindus  could  accept.  He  very  readily  said,  ‘That  woman 
is  a wicked  animal.  That  the  cow  is  a holy  animal.'”  No 
brilliant  presentation  of  Vedic  learning,  no  poetic  picture 
of  Brahman  or  Buddhist  philosophy  so  recently  heard  in 
the  Parliament  of  Religions,  will  prevent  the  world  from 
arraigning  Hinduism  for  cherishing,  in  the  sacred  name  of 
religion,  the  grossest  vices,  and  basely  degrading  woman 
and  all  society.  “By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them.” 
Religions  of  In  the  Empire  of  China,  under  a gov- 
China.  ernment  distinguished  for  its  stability  and 
justness,  among  a people  spoken  of  before  Christ  as  “Those 
who  dwell  apart,”  and  known  from  the  time  of  Ptolemy 
as  just,  mild,  frugal  and  industrious,  comprising  one-fourth 
the  human  race;  three  religions  of  confessed  power,  not  as 
rivals,  but  as  co-ordinate  and  supplemental,  have  for  many 
centuries  sought  to  solve  the  problem  of  life,  death  and 
immortality.  The  time  has  been  long  enough,  the  condi- 


14 


tions  favorable  for  a perfect  experimemt.  Confacianism, 
the  oldest  of  the  three,  gave  what  is  probably  the  best  code 
of  morals  man  ever  gave  to  men.  Confucius  was  himself 
an  earnest  reformer.  The  late  Dr.  Legge,  professor  of 
Chinese  in  the  University  of  Oxford,  says:  “Confucius 

saw  the  terrible  wretchedness  of  his  people  and  set  himself 
to  find  a remedy.  Yet  to  the  one  principal  cause  of  the 
misery  of  the  masses,  polygamy  and  the  low  social  condition 
of  women,  he  gave  no  thought.”  In  his  treatise  on  human 
relations,  in  that  of  husband  and  wife,  he  regards  the 
wife  as  the  servant  of  the  husband  and  enjoins  absolute 
obedience.  During  all  these  forty-three  centuries,  while 
Confucius  has  done  much  for  good  government  and  has 
set  some  high  moral  standards  for  men,  women  have 
reaped  no  benefit  from  the  teachings  of  the  sage. 

Lao-tsze,  the  founder  of  Taoism,  a religion 
of  no  little  power  in  China,  made  no  effort  to 
elevate  the  people,  and  his  religious  system  does  not  recog- 
nize the  existence  of  woman.  In  the  beginning,  the  work 
of  Taoism,  was  to  repress  the  passions. 

“Not  to  act  is  the  source  of  all  power,”  * was  an  ever 
present  thesis.  To-day  Taoism  is  a system  of  magic  and 
spiritism. 

♦Ten  Great  Religions.  James  Freeman  Ciark. 


15 


Much  vaunted,  “srentle  Buddha,”  gives 

BuddWsm.  , ,,  f nv.-  i if 

to  the  women  of  China  one  only  hope. 
Through  its  doctrine  of  transmigration  of  souls,  it  is  possi- 
ble that  through  obedience  to  her  husband  and  his  rela- 
tives, and  the  birth  of  a son,  she  may  in  some  future  aeon 
have  the  happiness  of  being  returned  to  this  world  a man. 
If  a man  commits  a crime  he  may  be  returned  to  earth  a 
woman.  The  one  fervent  prayer  of  the  women  as  they 
crowd  the  Buddhist  temple  is,  that  they  may  be  returned 
to  earth  as  men.  When  the  women  apply  to  the  priests 
for  instruction  they  are  told  “When  you  die  your  soul 
will  pass  into  the  land  of  spirits  where  it  may  remain  ages 
before  it  is  allowed  to  return  to  earth  and  inhabit  the  body 
of  a man.  You  will  need  money  to  pay  toll  on  the  bridges, 
and  you  must  fee  the  ferrymen,  especially  the  lily  boat  to 
cross  the  lake  of  blood.”*  (This  fee  is  $30.)  The  priests 
claim  to  have  opened  communication  with  the  spirit  land 
and  their  drafts  are  honored  there.  In  one  part  of  the 
temple  these  drafts  are  sold,  the  priests  placing  the  seal  of 
the  Temple  on  them.  Of  the  $400,000,000  annually 
given  for  idol  worship  in  China,  at  least  seven-eighths 
is  given  by  women  and  three-fourths  of  that  by  women  too 
poor  to  obtain  enough  of  even  the  coarsest  food. 

♦China  and  the  Chinese.  Kev.  J.  L.  Nevius. 


16 


The  customs  and  principles  of  marriage 

Marriage.  . ,,  ^ ° 

among  any  people  are  the  exponents  of  wo- 
man’s place  in  the  social  scale.  Chinese  women  are 
bought  and  sold  in  marriage.  The  wife  is  forever  subject 
to  her  husband  and  his  parents;  only  when  she  becomes 
the  mother  of  sons  does  she  receive  the  respect  of  the 
family.  Divorce  is  practically  at  the  pleasure  of  the  hus- 
band, or  he  may  sell  her  to  another  man.  Undesired  at 
birth,  liable  to  be  sold  while  a child  for  prostitution, 
never  educated,  her  low  estate  naturally  leads  to  the  crime 
of  infanticide.  Little  wonder  that  they  innocently  ask, 
^‘Why  save  the  life  of  a girl?” 

What  to-day  is  the  place  of  this  vast  Empire  among  the 
nations?  The  combined  forces  of  these  three  religions 
working  for  twenty-three  centuries  upon  one-fourth  of  the 
human  race  has  shed  no  light  on  the  two  great  foci,  the 
family  into  which  every  human  being  is  born,  and  that 
immortality  to  which  every  mortal  soul  aspires.  Nor  has 
any  single  ray  of  light  emanated  for  the  enlightenment  of 
the  other  three-fourths  of  mankind?  Alas,  a nation  can- 
not rise  higher  than  its  mothers. 

Religions  of  Shintoism  the  primal  cult  of  the  Jap- 
Jaijan.  anese,  has  no  system  of  morals  and  takes  lit- 
tle or  no  notice  of  woman’s  existence. 


17 


About  the  year  552  of  the  Christian  era,  Buddhism  en- 
tered the  Mikado’s  empire,  and  after  a thousand  years  of 
struggle  with  Shintoism,  gained  supremacy. 

“While  Japanese  women  are  not  so  pitiably  degraded  as 
in  India  or  China,  we  read  in  their  book  of  “Instruction 
for  Woman,”  “Woman  is  the  creature  of  man.”  “A  wo- 
man’s husband  is  her  God.”  Concubinage,  “divorce  if 
the  wife  is  not  obedient  to  her  husband’s  parents”  or  is  un- 
kind to  a concubine,  and  the  selling  of  young  daughters 
for  prostitution,  tell  the  story. 

The  Japanese  Buddhist  Bible  teaches  that  “the  sins  of 
three  thousand  of  the  worst  men  all  together  do  not  equal 
the  sins  of  one  woman.”  Even  in  “Buddhism’s  best  Gos- 
pel” among  the  articles  given  by  Buddha  himself  we  find 
only  this  negative  hope.  “Although  a woman  may  not 
be  born  into  My  Country,  yet  the  woman  who  hears  the 
name  of  Amida  Buddha,  and  is  excited  thereby  to  the 
hatred  of  the  condition  of  woman,  and  an  earnest  longing 
for  the  salvation  of  others,  shall  not  be  re-born  as  a wo- 
man.”* 

For  this  crumb  of  comfort  Japanese  women  are  devoted 
to  the  worship  of  Buddha.  The  timbers  of  the  great 
Buddhist  temple  building  in  Kyoto  said  to  cost  three  mill- 

*Muripapiu  Byo.  Luhbavatl  Sutrasl 


18 


ion  dollars,  are  all  hauled  to  the  ground  and  raised  into 
the  structure  by  ropes  made  of  hair  which  devoted  women 
have  cut  off  and  sent  for  this  purpose. 

Among  the  Ainu,  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  the  is- 
land of  Yesso,  the  women  do  not  worship  the  gods,  even 
separately.  “The  reason  commonly  given  among  them  is, 
that  the  men  fear  the  prayers  of  the  women  in  general, 
and  of  their  wives  in  particular.”* 

Mohammed-  There  are  few  more  pathetic  scenes  in 
anism.  history  than  the  casting  out  of  Hagar  and 
Ishmael  from  the  polygamous  home  of  Abraham.  “Abra- 
ham rose  up  early  in  the  morning  and  took  bread  and  a 
bottle  of  water”  and  gave  it  unto  Hagar  and  her  child  “and 
sent  them  away.”  The  picture  is  realistic;  that  erect,  well 
poised  figure,  with  the  bottle  on  her  shoulder,  that  dark 
Egyptian  face  with  chiseled  lines  of  sorrow,  illuminated 
now  with  righteous  anger,  as  she  gives  one  last  haughty 
look  toward  Sarah’s  tent  and  turns  toward  the  wilderness 
of  Beersheba.  Very  soon  the  curtain  lifts  upon  the  desert 
scene.  The  water  is  spent.  Hagar  places  the  child  under 
the  scant  shade  of  a shrub  and  lifting  up  her  voice,  weep- 
ing cries  out,  “Let  me  not  see  the  death  of  the  child.”  At 
this  crisis  a voice  is  heard  from  heaven:  “Lift  up  the  lad, 
*Rev,  John  Bachelor,  Church  Missionary  Society. 


19 


I will  make  of  him  a great  nation.”  And  they  dwelt  in 
the  wilderness  of  Paran,  and  his  mother  took  him  a wife 
out  of  the  land  of  the  Egyptians. 

The  years  go  by  and  centuries  are  numbered.  We  find 
the  fulfilled  promise  of  a “great  nation”  in  a people  in 
whose  veins  on  the  one  side  is  filtering  the  blood  of  the 
great  Abraham,  mingling  with  the  larger  proportion  of  the 
idolatrous  Egyptian,  nomadic  in  habit,  with  a genius  for 
conquest,  with  a language  distinguished  for  softness  and 
copiousness,  with  a literature  of  great  antiquity  and  high 
poetical  merit,  dwelling  in  the  Peninsula  of  Arabia.  Of 
these  people,  in  the  fifth  century  of  the  Christian  era, 
Mohammed,  the  founder  of  Islam,  was  born.  A youth  of 
great  sincerity  and  purity,  his  domestic  life  with  his  wife, 
Khadija,  is  as  beautiful  as  could  be  found  among  a non- 
Christian  people.  But  when  at  the  age  of  fifty-two  besets 
himself  up  as  a prophet,  and  becomes  the  husband  of 
eleven  wives,  we  find  him  guilty  of  the  grossest  crimes, 
robbery,  murder,  and  butchery  which  rival  the  Emperor 
Nero. 

“Judged  by  the  smallness  of  the  means  at  his  disposal, 
and  the  extent  and  permanence  of  his  work,  his  name  is 
illustrious.  By  his  will  he  abolished  a cherished  idolatry 
and  bowed  to  himself  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen,  and 


20 


gave  to  the  world  a creed  which  has  been  a tremendous 
force  on  the  destinies  of  the  nations.  To  the  impulse  he 
gave,  numberless  dynasties  owe  their  existence.  Fair 
cities,  stately  palaces  and  temples  have  arisen.  At  a 
thousand  shrines  the  voice  of  the  faithful  invokes  blessings 
on  him.”*  “He  saw  with  a correct  spiritual  vision  the 
elemental  truth  of  all  religion.  There  is  only  one  God.”f 
For  twelve  centuries  the  teachings  of  Mohammed  have 
borne  fruit  in  human  lives.  Not  only  in  the  land  of  its 
birth,  but  in  many  lands. 

We  turn  the  pages  of  the  Koran  with  eager 
hope  that  we  may  find  in  the  writings  of  this 
man  some  teaching  that  shall  lead  to  the  uplifting  of  wo- 
man. The  most  hopeful  word  the  Koran  has  for  woman 
is  in  the  second  chapter;  “Whoso  doeth  good  works  and  is 
a believer,  whether  male  or  female,  shall  be  admitted  to 
Paradise.”  The  practical  exegesis  of  a woman’s  “good 
works”  is,  obedience  to  the  husband.  Without  that  good 
work  she  can  not  enter  Paradise.  Again  in  the  fourth 
chapter,  entitled  “Women,”  we  read,  “Men  shall  have  pre- 
eminence above  women,  because  of  those  advantages 
wherein  God  hath  caused  the  one  to  excel  the  other,  and 
for  that  which  they  expend  of  their  substance  in  mainiain- 

*Marcus  Dodd.  tDean  Milman. 


21 


ing  their  wives.  The  honest  women  are  obedient,  careful 
in  the  absence  of  their  husbands,  for  that  God  preseryeth 
them  by  covimitting  them  to  the  care  and  protection  of  the 
men.  But  those,  whose  perverseness  ye  shall  be  apprehen- 
sive of,  rebuke  and  remove  them  into  separate  apartments 
and  chastise  them/^  The  degraded  and  degrading  prac- 
tice of  scourging  and  beating  wives,  having  the  sanction 
of  the  Koran,  will  be,  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Jessup,  “indulged 
in  so  long  as  Islam  as  a faith  prevails.” 

Polygamy  Note  the  polygamous  teaching  of  the 
Koran.  “Every  Moslem  is  allowed  four  free 
wives  and  as  many  concubines  as  his  right  hand  possess;” 
and  the  faithful  are  positively  promised  that  in  Paradise 
they  shall  have  seventy-two  honris  for  wives,  besides  the 
wives  they  have  here. 

D'vorce  According  to  the  Koran,  the  husband  may 
divorce  a wife  without  warning  or  assigning  a 
reason.  The  husband  has  only  to  say,  “Thou  art  divor- 
ced.” Even  life  may  be  taken  at  the  will  of  the  husband. 
Woman  is  practically  a chattel.  A Mohammedan  being 
asked,  “What  is  the  price  you  pay  for  a good  wife,”  re- 
plied; “About  the  same  as  for  a mule,  twelve  or  fourteen 
pounds.” 


22 


A polite  Mohammedan  would  not  speak  of 

Test’ll  nfi  ^ ^ 

his  wife  without  using  the  same  apologetic 
formula  he  would  use  if  he  were  speaking  of  a donkey  or  a 
hog.  Indeed  so  degrading  is  the  orthodox  Mohamme- 
dan’s idea  of  womanhood,  we  cannot  mention  it  here. 
The  Koran  says  nothing  about  a woman’s  praying,  there- 
fore she  is  excluded  from  the  Mosques  at  the  hours  of 
prayer.  Behold  a religion  that  practically  excludes  one- 
half  the  human  race!  It  was  not  until  Mohammed  was 
fifty-eight  years  of  age,  and  the  husband  of  many  wives, 
and  had  under  his  own  roof  experienced  what  the  Moslem 
women  of  to-day  declare,  when  there  is  more  than  one  wife 
“there  is  fire  in  the  house,”  that  he  wrote  in  the  Koran 
the  “ordinance  of  veil,”  that  badge  of  jealous  subjugation, 
which  marks  an  era  in  the  degradation  of  women  in  all  the 
Orient.  The  regulation  costume  shrouds  the  women  from 
the  head  to  the  ankle  in  a cotton  or  silk  sheet  of  black  or 
white.  Around  the  head  is  tied  a yard  long  linen  or  cot- 
ton veil  in  which  before  the  eyes  is  a piece  of  open  work 
about  the  size  of  a finger  which  is  the  only  look  out  and 
ventilator.  No  part,  not  even  a hand  or  an  eye,  can  be 
seen. 

See  the  picture;  with  fearful  foot-steps,  with  no  hope  in 
man,  with  little  knowledge  of  the  “All  Father,”  no  knowl- 


23 


edge  of  Him  who  said,  “Come  onto  me  all  ye  that  labor 
and  are  heavy  laden,”  for  twelve  cycling  centuries,  an  un- 
ceasing ghostly  procession  has  marched  from  birth  to 
death. 

Theckla,  a Christian  martyr  of  the  first  century,  stand- 
ing in  the  arena  at  Antioch,  bemoans  in  her  prayer  the 
shame  of  all  women  in  her  unclothing.  The  clothing  of 
woman  in  the  veil  of  the  false  prophet  is  a shame  to  all 
womanhood.  “The  whole  life  of  a Mohammedan  woman 
is  mirrored  in  that  pathetic  Arabic  proverb  ‘The  threshold 
weeps  for  forty  days  whenever  a girl  is  born.’”  The 
spider’s  web  which  once  saved  the  life  of  Mohammed  has, 
as  by  the  hand  of  a Vulcan,  been  forged  into  a chain  which 
in  this  nineteenth  century  in  the  name  of  religion  dares 
hold  woman,  and  through  her,  200,000,000  of  mankind  in 
a singularly  hopeless  degradation. 

The  sacred  books  of  Zoroaster  give  women  a 

Persia.  ° 

higher  place  than  any  other  Ethnic  religion. 

Women  are  given  the  same  religious  rites  as  men,  yet  even 

here  “woman’s  first  duty  is  obedience  to  her  husband,  and 

disobedience  is  a crime  so  heinous  as  to  receive  punishment 

after  death.”* 

On  the  death  of  a chief  in  Central  Africa  hundreds  of 
♦The  Vendldas. 


24 


his  wives  are  buried  alive,*  a sacrifice  for  his  convenience 
in  the  spirit  land. 

Miss  Mary  C.  Collins,  who  has  lived  many  years  among 
the  North  American  Indians,  says,  “The  Indian  is  a relig- 
ious man,  and  it  is  his  religion  that  makes  him  cruel.” 

The  story  becomes  monotonous.  All  non-Christian  re- 
ligions degrade  women,  and  as  woman  is,  so  is  all  society. 

To-day  the  all-sufficient  Christian  evidence,  is  the  im- 
measurable contrast  between  heathen  and  Christian  society. 

“The  works  that  I do  bear  avitness  of  Me,  that 
THE  Father  hath  sent  Me.” — John  5:S6. 


♦Cameron. 


